Bat bugs are parasitic insects that primarily feed on the blood of bats. They are often confused with bed bugs due to their similar appearance and the fact that both are blood-feeding pests. While closely related within the Cimicidae family, bat bugs are specifically adapted to living near their bat hosts. Understanding their differences is important for proper identification and effective management.
Identifying a Bat Bug
Bat bugs are small, oval-shaped insects, typically flattened in appearance, especially before a blood meal. Adults measure about 6 millimeters (1/4 inch) long, comparable in size to an apple seed. Their color ranges from transparent tan to dark brown or reddish after feeding. Like bed bugs, they are wingless and possess piercing-sucking mouthparts.
The most reliable way to distinguish bat bugs from bed bugs involves examining microscopic features, particularly the hairs on their body. Bat bugs possess longer fringe hairs on the upper covering of their thorax, known as the pronotum. These hairs are at least as long as the width of the bat bug’s eye, a characteristic that differentiates them from bed bugs, which have much shorter hairs. This distinction requires magnification and is primarily used by professionals.
Bat bugs undergo a life cycle that includes egg, nymph, and adult stages. Female bat bugs require a blood meal to produce and lay eggs, which they typically deposit in crevices and on rough surfaces near their hiding spots. Eggs usually hatch within one to two weeks, and the resulting nymphs must consume blood to molt and grow. The entire development from egg to adult can take about 1.5 to 2 months under ideal conditions, though it can extend to over 15 weeks in less favorable environments. Adult bat bugs are capable of surviving for more than a year without feeding.
Where Bat Bugs Live and How They Get Inside
Bat bugs primarily inhabit bat roosts, often found in secluded areas of buildings like attics, chimneys, wall voids, and eaves. They remain close to their bat hosts, clinging to their fur and traveling back to the roost after feeding. These insects typically reside in cracks and crevices within these roosting sites.
Bat bugs enter human living spaces when their primary hosts, bats, leave or are removed from their roosts, which can occur due to natural migration, exclusion efforts, or the death of the bat colony. Once deprived of their preferred food source, bat bugs will venture out in search of other warm-blooded hosts, including humans. They may migrate from attics or wall voids into other areas of a home, sometimes reaching beds and furniture. While bat bugs bite humans in the absence of bats, they are not known to transmit diseases. Bites can cause skin irritation and itchy welts, similar to other insect bites, but pose no serious health risk.